Clothes-line reel



. Dec. 25, 1934. F. c. HUSH CLOTHES LINE REEL Filed Dec. 11, 1935 .IIIIII'IIIIIII III/ 1 1 Patented Dec. 25, 1934 i 1,9s5,727 C O HE -LemmaFoss C. Hush, Lincoln, Nebr. A plicationlleceniber i1, 1933, SerialNo.701,75 g

It istheobje'ct ofmy. invention to'producea clothes-line reel whichwill-be of simple construction and of such a nature that it can bemanufactured economically. A further object 5 of my invention is toproduce a clothes-line reel so arranged that the forces acting upon thevariousparts of the reelwill be fairly well centered or alined with eachother so as to eliminate or reduce. the magnitude of stresses 1 whichare wholly internal with respect to the reel:

In carrying outmy invention I windthe. clothesline on a spool 'ofrelativelylarge diameter and small] axial length, and I formthespoolwith a central w'eb which is pivoted to an enclosing casing in themedianplane of the spool. The casingis provided with means for'attachingit to a suitable "support and also with a ratchet device which engagesthe spool-end at two points located at equal distances from the medianplane of the 'spool'and as close as conveniently possible to the 'pointat which the clothes-lineleaves thespool. addition, the, casing isformed to engage the centraltwebof the spoolat a distancetrom the spoolaxis in order to afford support to thespool against any tendency it mayhave to cock on its pivot.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention: Fig. 1 is a sideelevation of the reel in operative position; Fig. 2 is a topplan view ofthe reel; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical axial section on the line33.of Fig. 1. r

In the device illustrated in the drawing, th

clothes-line 10 is wrapped upon a spool formed pawl 30, the strap 25 hasan outwardly deformed of two generally similar sheet-metal stampings 11.Each of these stampings is circular and is provided with a centralcircular depression of relatively large diameter. In assembling thespool, the bottoms 12 of these depressions are placed together, so thatthe side walls 13 ofthe 40 depressions and the plane peripheral portions14 of the stampings 11 define a suitable space for the reception of theturns of the clothes-line 10, as is clear from Fig. 3.

The spool formed by the two stampings 11 is mounted in a suitable casing16. Like the spoolsections 11, the casing 16 is conveniently formed ofsheet-metal. It is circular in contour and has at its edge a cylindricalannular flange 1'7 within which the spool is received. The casing 16 isprovided with a central circular depression 18 of a depth approximatelyequal to half the width of the flange 17.

The bottom 19 of the depression 18 and the central web of the spoolformed by the portions 12 of the stampings 11 are provided with alinedend flange 14 of the spool two diametrically. op-

axial openings for. the receptionof amt/6t bolt 21 associated withwhich, there may bea spacing collar. 22 and a bearing-bushing 23. l Thebolt 21&

serves as a pivotal support for the spool in the casing 16 and serves toprevent axial removal of 5 the spool from'the casing. The bottom 19 of,the depression 18 isuplanefor otherwise formeduto engage the central webof the spool. at points remote from the axisthereof, such engagementserving topreventocockingwf. the spool on its 10 axis of-rotation in'thecasing. I r The casing is adapted for. attachment to a support bymeans'of a metal strap 25 which partially surrounds and is secured tothe flange 17. The ends of the strap 25 extend toward each other 15 intangential relation to the flange 17, and the extreme ends of the strap25 are. bent into overlapping relation and provided with. holes for thehreception ofthe shank of a hook126. fIhe hook 26 is adapted forco-operative engagement with;;-.g0 an .eye 27 secured to any convenientsupport28; K ;;Near the top ofthe casing 16 I mount a pawl 36 which isadapted to co-operate with two series of zratchet teeth '31 formedrespectively; on the portion 33 which embraces the intermediate leg ofthe U-shaped pawl .30 and in which the pawl is held by the flange 17. ei

The clothes line IOemerges from the casing through a suitable openingprovided in the casing-flange 1'7 and in the strap 25. The opening 35 isso disposed that a line passing through it and the hook 26 will extendgenerally tangentially through the groove portion of the spool 00-cupied by the Wound clothes-line. Thus, when the clothes-line isextended it will not tend to bear heavily against the sides of theopening 35.

For the purpose of rotating the spool to wind up the clothes-line and totighten the clothesline when it is in-position, I provide on the outerposite knobs 36.. By using his two hands to apply equal and oppositelydirected forces to the knobs 36, the operator can avoid imposingtransverse forces on the stressed clothes-line as the line is tightened.

The ends of the pawl 30 engage the flanges 14 of the spool at pointslocated as close as convenient to the point of tangency of theclothesline 10, thus minimizing the magnitude of the reaction betweenthe spool and the pivot bolt 21 in the plane of the reel; Further, byemploying the double pawl which engages both of the flanges 14, anyeffect of the tension in the line 10 tending to cock the spool out ofits normal plane is transmitted directly to the casing through thepaWls' and is not transferred in any substantial magnitude through thepivot bolt 21. This feature, together with the support which the web l12 of the spool receives from the bottom 19 of the depression 18, makespossible the use of the short pivot bolt and the resultantsimplification;

of construction.

I claim as my invention:

1. A reel, comprising a spool of relatively large diameter and shortaxial length, said spool having a central web located substantially'inthe median transverse plane of the spool, 'a sheetmetal casing having aperipheral flange surrounding said'spool and an axially displacedcentral portion engaging said web, a pivot bolt'pivotallyinterconnecting the central portion of the casing and the webof the spool, a strap partially encircling and secured to said flangeand. adapted for attachment to a support, said Iflange and strap having'alinedopenings through which a clothes-line encircling said spool mayemerge from the casing, said strap having a portlonispaced from saidflange, and a pawl having a part pivotally supported between said flangeand the strap-portion displaced therefrom, said Spool being provided atboth its axial ends with an annular series of ratchet teeth and saidpawl having tooth-engaging portions co-operating respectively with saidtwo series of ratchet teeth. 2. A reel, comprising a spool of relativelylarge diameter and short axial length, said spool having a central Weblocated substantially in the median transverse plane of the spool, asheetmetal casing'having a peripheral flange surround- 45 ing said spooland an axially displaced central portion engaging said web, a pivot boltpivotally the strap-portion displaced therefrom, said spool beingprovided with an annular series of ratchet teeth with which said pawlcooperates.

, 3. A reel, comprising a spool having a peripheral clothes-linereceiving groove defined by annular flanges at the ends of the spool, acasing within which said spool is rotatably mounted,

means for loosely attaching said casing to a support, said casing havingan open side exposing one end of said spool, and two diametricallyopposite winding-knobs secured to the spool-flange and extending axiallyoutwardly of the spool in the open side of said casing.

4. In a clothessline reel, a spool of relatively largediam'e'ter andshort axial length, said spool having a central web locatedsubstantially in the median transverse plane of the spool, a sheetmetalcasing having a peripheral flange sur rounding said spool and an axiallydepressed center portion engaging said web, and a pivot bolt pivotallyinter-connecting the central portion of the casing and the web of thespool.

' 5. In a clothes-line reel, a spool of relatively large diameter and.sliort'axial length, said spool having an annular clothes-line'-receiving groove the sides of which are defined by end flanges on thespool, one face of said spool having a central recess of a depthapproximately equal to half the distance between said end flanges, asheetmetal casing having a peripheral flange surrounding said spool anda centrally located pro- -jecti-on extending into said recess intoengagement with the bottom thereof, and a centrally located pivot boltinterconnecting said spool and easing.

FOSS o. HUSH.

